J.B. Holmes sank an 11-foot birdie putt on the final hole on Saturday to tie Harris English for the lead heading into the final round of the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla.
The 32-year Holmes, who has won three times on the PGA Tour, carded seven birdies and three bogeys in his round of 4-under-par 68, while 36-hole leader English struggled to a 73 that included a bogey and double bogey after he played flawlessly the first two days.
“This golf course is a big, ball-striking course,” said Holmes, who birdied three of the four par-5 holes on the challenging South Course, where every player who made the cut played in the third round after playing the North and South on the first two days.
“So you’ve got to hit it in the fairway, you’ve got to hit some good shots and give yourself a chance for some birdies. … The rough, it probably plays worse than it did at the U.S. Open when they had it here in 2008.”
Said English: “This is a U.S. Open golf course, and you’ve got to treat it like that. You have to grind it out.”
Jimmy Walker, who has four victories in a little more than a year, posted a 70 and was one stroke back in a tie for third with Lucas Glover, Spencer Levin and Chad Campbell, who also had 70s, and Nick Watney, who shot 72.
Bill Haas, who won the Humana Challenge two weeks ago, also shot a 70 and is in a tie for eighth at 7-under 214 with Alex Prugh (69), Andres Gonzales (71), Jason Day (71) of Australia and Jhonattan Vegas (73) of Venezuela.
